Hi, the hospital I work for in Texas has instituted a new policy of forcing all non-clinical nurses to go back to bedside nursing and take care of COVID patients. Nurses are told that they don't have a choice but resignation.
I haven't done bedside nursing in over 7 years (been doing quality and informatics) and feel that I don't have it in me (skillwise and desire) to go back to bedside nursing. What should I do?
- Can hospitals really force people to resign or is this just a tactic so that they don't have to pay unemployment?
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
11 hours ago, Orion81RN said:
1) the "training" is a joke.
2) No. If I'm hired in a non-clinical role, I'm not letting anyone bully me into doing any job other than what I signed up for. I'd do it if I chose to but not bc my work told me I have to. That's ***. That's like telling someone in QA at my private duty company that they have to do a shift at a patient's house with a couple hours of training. No. Unacceptable. I don't care if you think otherwise. This isn't the military. That sounds like the mentality of the nursing profession that is holding us back bc we don't stand up for ourselves. Thanks for that ?
We just see this very differently. I disagree that this is "the mentality of the nursing profession that is holding us back because we don't stand up for ourselves". Its a pandemic. Expecting someone to function in a role the company/patients actually need during a time like this isn't unreasonable.
The training in my own facility is excellent and thorough. I do believe you completely that may not be the case everywhere.
On 7/15/2020 at 10:33 AM, A Hit With The Ladies said:
No one asked you to come to Texas. Also, New Jersey has more than twice as many Coronavirus cases per 1000 people compared to Texas. Some great accomplishment.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the way you know you go from one town to another in NJ is because there's a sign, while the way you know you go from one town to another in Texas is the 10 miles of desert you just drove through.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the way you know you go from one town to another in NJ is because there's a sign, while the way you know you go from one town to another in Texas is the 10 miles of desert you just drove through.
Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
On 7/19/2020 at 10:11 PM, amoLucia said:
To Orion and several others here -
Re Safe Harbor - unless things have changed, Calif (?) was the only state to have Safe Harbor legislation. And just to remind all, Safe Harbor does NOT give the employee a pass to avoid an unwanted assignment. No!
Texas has Safe Harbor, and New Mexico passed it last year as well but they call it something else I believe.
Your employer, on the other hand, can likely terminate you for refusing an assignment, even an unsafe one. The fact that you were once a bedside nurse suggests you were adequately prepared at one time, so it would seem reasonable from a liability perspective to ask you to go back on the floor. However, working in a specialty unit would be a different story.
Nobody can force you to resign. If you refuse an assignment, you can be fired. The employer will say it was with cause. You could appeal that, but again given your previous bedside work, unless the hospital was asking you to work in a specialty you hadn't been trained in, you'd be unlikely to prevail. Additionally, the hospital could say they downsized the informatics department d/t COVID and you were simply laid off, which wouldn't qualify you for unemployment. Or the hospital could claim you were adequately trained, you just didn't want to. Again, no unemployment.
Not taking a floor assignment will likely result in consequences of some kind. Up to you what it's worth to refuse.
Hi, the hospital I work for in Texas has instituted a new policy of forcing all non-clinical nurses to go back to bedside nursing and take care of COVID patients. Nurses are told that they don't have a choice but resignation.
I haven't done bedside nursing in over 7 years (been doing quality and informatics) and feel that I don't have it in me (skillwise and desire) to go back to bedside nursing. What should I do?
- Can hospitals really force people to resign or is this just a tactic so that they don't have to pay unemployment?
- Do nurses qualify for unemployment?
- Can safe harbor be invoked here?
They can't force you to resign, but they can fire you if you won't make the move.
Yes, nurses can qualify for unemployment, but I'm not certain if you will be able to in this situation.
They will be required to reorient you to the bedside. If they push you out of orientation before you believe that you are ready and give you an assignment that is not compatible with your skills you can follow the Texas rules regarding "Safe harbor."
Alternatively you send your resume out today and see if there are any hospitals where you would like to work who are hiring people with your skills.
We did shutdown in Texas. We are requiring masks. Houston has required them since April basically. I worked up in NYC in April/may. There were plenty of people there not wearing masks and social distancing.
As someone from New Jersey, I must point out that NYC is not located in NJ.
Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
On 7/18/2020 at 9:05 PM, Kyrshamarks said:
We did shutdown in Texas. We are requiring masks. Houston has required them since April basically. I worked up in NYC in April/may. There were plenty of people there not wearing masks and social distancing.
Texas absolutely failed in that they rushed to be one of the first states to open back up because they weren't seeing many cases. Well the reason they weren't seeing many cases was because the things they did implement were actually working, and it all fell apart when Gov. Abbott decided to toss that all to the side and open the state back up prematurely. Hence one of the main reasons why Texas is in the situation it is now.
We'll you guys are certainly working hard to be #1 in Covid-19. Texas and NJ will graciously concede and let you guys have the title of Corona Capital of the US ?
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
On 7/19/2020 at 8:11 PM, amoLucia said:
To Orion and several others here -
Re Safe Harbor - unless things have changed, Calif (?) was the only state to have Safe Harbor legislation. And just to remind all, Safe Harbor does NOT give the employee a pass to avoid an unwanted assignment. No!
It is the employee's opp'ty to alert Admin that the employee is working UNDER PROTEST. The employee CANNOT REFUSE an assignment - to do so is basically refusing to work. That refusal is a fire-able action considered as JOB ABANDONMENT. So the employee will be working the assignment UNDER PROTEST.
SAFE HARBOR is a very serious employee activity. It is NOT an afterthought; it is NOT a threat. Safe Harbor MUST be declared BEFORE the employee accepts the assigned assignment and Admin must be notified immed. And there should be some type of paperwork documentation that explains the employee's stance that the assignment poses a real threat to pt SAFETY.
What happens after is that there must be a peer/group mandatory conference (within a designated time frame) that reviews the situation under complaint. A decision is then determined.
I wish I could remember more details. There was a great article piece presented by the Commuter, a very knowledgeable past respondent here. I tried a quick search here and there are some other good pieces that also explain SH better.
To dianah - please, if you could locate & post that Commuter address piece. I think it would provide much needed info for many. TY in advance, if you can help. I know she posted it before 8/2017.
I remember and even once met "The Commuter" at NTI one year. When she first joined allnurses.com she was a California nurse. Then she moved to Texas. She was a member who taught us a lot. BUT Texas is the state that has "Safe Harbor".
CALIFORNIA BOARD OF REGISTERED NURSING ABANDONMENT OF PATIENTS
Inquiries have been received by the Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) regarding which actions by a nurse constitute patient abandonment and thus may lead to discipline against a nurse's license.
Generally for patient abandonment to occur, the nurse must:
a) Have first accepted the patient assignment, thus establishing a nurse-patient relationship, and then
b) Severed that nurse-patient relationship without giving reasonable notice to the appropriate person (e.g., supervisor, patient) so that arrangements can be made for continuation of nursing care by others....
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
2 hours ago, SpEdtacular said:
We'll you guys are certainly working hard to be #1 in Covid-19. Texas and NJ will graciously concede and let you guys have the title of Corona Capital of the US ?
Nope. Apparently we are going to fight ‘em for it. ??
Nurse SMS, MSN, RN
6,843 Posts
We just see this very differently. I disagree that this is "the mentality of the nursing profession that is holding us back because we don't stand up for ourselves". Its a pandemic. Expecting someone to function in a role the company/patients actually need during a time like this isn't unreasonable.
The training in my own facility is excellent and thorough. I do believe you completely that may not be the case everywhere.